The State of the Fandom: TWD

TL;DR: The TWD fandom is wild. There's movies and video games and character deaths, oh my! Fans are frustrated, but this too shall pass.

My fellow fandom members,

Hello, intrepid readers, and welcome to our Walking Dead issue. Though our portents are not as dire as they were when we discussed Tumblr's impending adult content ban, they are still not great. That's because The Walking Dead, both the comics and the television show, are in, honestly, kind of a weird place right now. Fans are hanging on, but how long will it be before they move on to bigger, better, and brighter fandoms? Only time will tell.

The big news, obviously, is that Rick is gone in the television show. Andrew Lincoln will be starring in a set of movies that continue Rick's story, but he will no longer be a regular cast member. In addition, everyone on the show thinks he's dead, so they've all moved on. With the previous death ofCarl, and the most recent death of Jesus, fans are weary. Which may be ironic, considering the content of the show, but a lot of these decisions don't seem to have been motivated by plot, which can be a hard pill to swallow.

The show finally has a new showrunner, Angela Kang. Some think that she has injected new life into the story, but others have already left the bandwagon. They might be gone, or just dwelling in seasons past for now. Will they come back and try it out? Maybe eventually. But it might not be enough. I know that I haven't personally watched in a long time, and even though I love the characters and the actors, it's hard for me to to consider coming back because I've been so disappointed in the past. I may still be writingWalking Dead fanfiction, but you can write fanfiction in a vacuum, as we all know.

All is not well in the comic universe, either. Robert Kirkman, who is no longer involved with the show, has announced that he knows how the comic will end. He hasn't yet specified when that end will come, but we can probably assume that it's going to be sooner rather than later. He has also announced that everyone's beloved protagonist, Rick Grimes, will not survive to the end of the series, and some fans are mad enough that they've decided to stop reading.

We know it hurts to see our favorite things end. We don't want to say goodbye to our favorite characters played by our favorite actors, or that favorite comic that we look forward to reading religiously every month. But all things must come to an end, and maybe it's time for The Walking Dead to wind down. One of our writers addresses that idea in this very issue.

There is a little bit of good news on the horizon. The Walking Dead video game produced by Telltale was thought to be left hanging without an ending because the studio folded, but Telltale has since announced that the final season, which had already begun releasing before their financial troubles, will be finished by Skybound Entertainment and Robert Kirkman, who swooped in to save the day. This video game series has been very well-received by critics, video game fans, and fans of The Walking Dead, so it's nice to see that it will end as planned.

Still, fans are understandably frustrated. Unfortunately, that often leads to division in a fandom, and The Walking Dead is no exception. Fans who will never give up on the show and will never admit that it's flawed clash with those who are still around, but aren't happy. Those who are fans of a hated character face unfair scrutiny and vitriol being in their favorite tags, and even in their asks. Trust me, I love Negan, so I've seen a lot of bad things get directed at a huge number of people. Again, these aren't problems that plague only The Walking Dead fandom. They plague all fandoms.

It's customary to start the new year off with a resolution. So let's make a fandom resolution to begin 2019. Resolve to, as Bill and Ted would say, be excellent to each other. Support each other. Be friends with each other. Love each other. And if someone likes a character you don't, or has something constructively critical to say about your favorite show, just let it go. To be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with healthy debate within a fandom. But I'm talking about the hateful arguments and lashing out, and they're just not worth the drama. It's not worth people being driven from their fandom spaces just so an opinion can reign supreme. No one is in charge of any fandom, and hierarchies developing is often toxic, as another of our other writers points out this issue as well.

But don't give up. You can't change everybody else, but you can change you. No matter what is said in a fandom, you know the truth about yourself and what you want out of your experience. I know it sucks sometimes, because I've been on the receiving end. But that means you can also see that I've survived, and amin fact thriving. That means you can too.

Do everything you can to make your favorite fandoms places that you love to be, because then they'll be places that other people love to be as well. That's the wish I'm making for fandoms this year, so please. Help me make it come true.